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Carers

WHAT'S NEW? – Care Act 2014

From the 1st April 2015, the Care Act 2014 will, for the first time, ensure carers are recognised in law the same way as
those they care for. The Act gives carers greater rights and places a new duty on local authorities in respect of supporting
carers.

What does this mean to you?

You will be entitled to a carer’s assessment where you appear to have needs, which matches the rights of the person
being cared for.

This is different to the current situation where you have to show you provide ‘regular and substantial’ care
to be entitled to a carer’s assessment.

The assessment will ascertain:

• Whether the carer is able/willing to provide and continue to provide the care;
• The impact on the carers ‘well-being’;
• The outcomes the carer wishes in day-to-day life;
• Whether the carer works and/or wishes to participate in education, training or recreation.

Carers will also be entitled to support if they meet the eligibility criteria.

The principle duty is only in relation to adult carers caring for someone aged 18 or over, however the Act does contain
specific provision for carers of disabled children and young carers, who are in transition into adulthood.

Duties in relation to parent carers and young carers are contained within the Children and Families Act 2014.

Click here to find out
more general information about the Care Act 2014

Do you provide help to a family member, friend or neighbour who cannot manage on their own because they:

• Are frail
• Have long term health condition
• Have a physical disability
• Have a learning disability
• Have a chronic illness
• Have a mental illness that means that they need support to cope
• Have a substance misuse with drugs or alcohol

Do you provide this support without payment and it is not your employment (paid or voluntary)?

If you answer YES to the above, then, regardless of your age, you are a CARER.

Carers fall broadly into 3 groups:

• Adult carer – an adult caring for another adult such as a spouse, partner, friend or relative
• Parent carer – an adult who cares for an ill or disabled child.
• Young carer – a child or young person (under 18 years) who takes on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities
(that would usually be expected of an adult) for another person. This may be a parent, brother or sister.

What do carers do?

Looking after someone can involve many different tasks such as:

• Providing practical help - shopping, housework, gardening or preparing meals
• Providing personal care - helping the person you care for to get washed and dressed or use the toilet
• Providing emotional support - talking and listening to the person you care for
Carers in Stoke-on-Trent

In the 2011 census approximately 27,000 people in Stoke-On-Trent (11% of the population) identified themselves as providing
unpaid care; approximately 800 of these were young carers. Research highlights this number is likely to be an underestimate.

Of those who identified themselves as carers:

• 56% were females and 44% males, representing 12.4% of the total female population and 9.8% of the total male population
in Stoke-on-Trent.
• Only 66% of carers described their health as ‘good’, in comparison to 78% of the general population. In
general, the more hours of unpaid care provided the more likely someone was to state that their general health was ‘not
good’.
• Those providing 50 hours or more unpaid care per week reported the worst general health – with only 51% describing
their health as good, and more than double describing it as bad when compared with the general population.
• About 540 people aged under 16 were providing unpaid care. Of these almost exactly half were male and half female.
This equates to about 2% of the population aged 5-15 potentially providing unpaid care.
• The vast majority (93%) of people under 16 providing care reported their general health as good or very good, and less
than 1% reported it as bad or very bad. The numbers reporting good or very good health decreased as the number of hours of
care provided increased.

HOW TO CONTACT US?

If you are 18 or over and the person you look after is 18 or over please call the free phone number 0800 561 0015 where
a trained advisor will discuss the available services with you and start the assessment process if needed.

If you are a young carer (under the age of 18) or the person you care for is under 18, please call 01782 235100 where you
will be able to talk to someone who will give you help and advice.

If you feel that you need help and support or just information on services that are available in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire,
whether from us or other organisations, please visit Staffordshire Cares by clicking this link to access the information pages
www.staffordshirecares.info/pages/i-care-for/i-care-for.aspx

CARER AWARE – online training course and information toolkit

Whether you are a carer, work with carers or just want to find out more (or all 3) then click on the link below to take
this course.

Carer Aware covers:

• Who is a carer
• What are their rights
• What support is available in the City of Stoke-on-Trent
• Where to find further information

You can access all or part of the information in the course, in any order and as many times as you wish. However if you
would like to test your knowledge and get your 'Carer Aware' certificate you will need to complete the whole course.